The Wonderful World of Children
by Lily Hanson
Summary: Follows Fateful Day at the Zoo - The Nighlok that attack during the summer are always the weirdest, and always leave the Rangers in the strangest of predicaments.
1. Little Samurai Rangers

Disclaimer: I do not own Power Rangers: (Super) Samurai. This is purely fan-made.

* * *

Serena couldn't believe the crazy Nighlok that came out during the summer. First the love inducing Nighlok, and now this? As she and the other Samurai hurried to the center of the city, where a new Nighlok was causing trouble, she noticed the city was full of children.

There were children, babies even, in suits, with briefcases, pushing strollers, carrying purses, and sitting in the drivers' seats of cars.

"Serena, Mia!" Jayden cried out, "Get the kids to safety."

"Bad parenting 101," Mike muttered as he looked around, "Who lets a kid drive a car?"

Serena and Mia looked to each other and then they split up from the group. Unfortunately, even with kids behind the wheel the cars wouldn't stop. They were going to have to find a way to get the cars to slow gently to a stop, and then get the kids out of the cars and somewhere safe.

Mia seemed to know what to do right away. With one symbol, the cars were all lifted into the air. The wheels could spin all they wanted, but the cars were now stopped. Serena followed Mia's lead, lifting herself up to open the driver's side of the first car. She grabbed the little boy and lowered him to the ground and then pulled the keys out of the ignition, stopping the car. She did this for all the cars in the on the street and hoped it was enough to keep as many people as safe as possible.

After the last car had been turned off and the last child had been rescued, Serena carried an armful of children back over to Mia, who had collected about a dozen herself. Mia's symbol power wore off and the cars all crashed to the ground. She double over, resting her hands on her knees, exhausted from using so much power.

"Know a good babysitter?" Serena asked her as one boy tapped on the side of her helmet and asked if she could feel it. Serena had to resist the urge to knock him senseless.

"If everyone in town is a baby…"

"This Nighlok couldn't have gotten everyone," Serena shook her head and then saw a couple of cop cars coming down the street. She set the kids in her arms down on the ground and pointed to the shining lights.

"Look, a cool police car! Go annoy the policeman!"

The kids, fascinated by the police car rushed off to get a closer look. Mia and Serena took this as their chance to run and join the others in the fight against the Nighlok. Whether the Rangers needed their help or not it was best to show up. But when they turned the corner, the Nighlok raced past them. Judging by his dry, peeling skin, he seemed to be drying up and was trying his best to get away. Before the girls could do anything, he disappeared into a gap.

"Looks like even the Nighlok are learning to fear us," Serena chuckled and nudged Mia gently. The pink Ranger didn't laugh. She didn't even turn to Serena. She was too busy staring at the scene.

"Where are the others?"

Serena looked and shrugged her shoulders. Then she felt someone tugging on her skirt. She looked down and saw a little boy who was wearing the exact same clothes Kevin had been wearing under his Ranger suit.

"I don't remember hearing about a white Ranger."

Mia knelt down and looked the little boy in the eyes. He seemed to be about six years old, if she guess right, and he looked a lot like a younger version of her fiancé. In fact, he looked exactly like her fiancé from the pictures she had seen of him as a kid.

"Kevin?"

The little boy nodded his head and bowed.

Mia rose to her feet and looked to Serena, "Yep, definitely Kevin."

"So those kids over there must be the others… MIKE! No, that's sharp!" Serena cried and rushed over to the little boy in green, who found his Spin Sword and was now trying to show off to young Jayden and Antonio. Serena reached him just in time and ripped the sword from his hands right before he could slice Antonio's head off. "What the hell do you think you're doing?"

"Relax, lady," Mike tried to take the Spin Sword back, but Serena held it up high, far out of his reach, "Hey! Give it back! I'm a Samurai in-training! I know what I'm doing."

"I'm a Samurai in-training too," little Antonio grinned happily and he picked up his barracuda blade, "Watch! Jayden's teaching me to be a Samurai!"

"No, no, no!" Serena took Antonio's blade, and then picked up Jayden's Spin Sword before he got any ideas. She looked at the three young boys, "New rules. If it's sharp, none of you touch."

"A white Ranger?" little Jayden looked up at Serena curiously, "I don't remember a white Ranger?"

"I'm new, okay," Serena grumbled. Jayden just looked around and then sighed.

"Serena, we really need to get home," Mia said, walking with Kevin by her side. "If the cops come and see us taking kids away…"

"Yeah, that might look suspicious," Serena nodded and gestured for the boys to follow the pink Ranger, while she looked around, just to make sure she hadn't forgotten anything. She counted the kids' heads as they walked with Mia and then her eyes widened, "SHIT!"

"Uh-oh!" all four boys turned around and pointed at her accusingly, "You said a bad word!"

"Samurai never say bad words," Kevin crossed his arms over his chest and shook his head, "I don't know who you are, but if you're going to be a Samurai, you need to act like one."

Serena rushed over to the boys and knelt down in front of Kevin, "How old are you?"

"Six. How old are you?"

"A lot older," Serena gave him a pat on the head and looked to Mia, "If Kevin's six then Emily's…"

"Wena! Candy!" two year old Emily cried out as she crawled out from under a bench and held out a piece of previously chewed gum in her hands. Because it was a bright colour, like most of the candy her parents and Serena fed her, she assumed it was good to eat. She was too young to understand that it was dirty, and hadn't grown up in the city so she didn't understand that people were… well pigs.

"Emily, put that down!" Serena shouted and stomped over to her little sister. Emily hadn't been a troublesome child, but she had always needed someone keeping an eye on her. Her years of being accident prone started the minute she learned how to crawl. If this Nighlok's spell was going to last, Serena knew she was in for a hard time.

And then she thought about what the boys could have possibly been like as children. A shiver travelled down her spine. She picked up her little sister, ripped the gum from her hand and carried her back to Mia and the boys.

"Now we can go home."

-Samurai-

Storm had no idea what she was in for.

Like usual, there had been a loud alarm, followed by everyone leaving the house in a hurry except for the oldest human. The house was empty for a while and then a bunch of children came back.

Children who were excited to see that their new home had a dog.

As she ran away from Mike and Antonio especially, Ji watched and shook his head. This was going to be chaos. Anytime a Nighlok used a spell on even just one of the Rangers it was chaos. Now, five out of seven of his Samurai were children, all between the ages of two and six.

While Mike and Antonio raced after the dog, Jayden and Kevin sat on their stools. Despite their young age, they were already acting like grown up. Jayden seemed to understand that right now wasn't a time to play and he was doing his best to sit still and listen, and Kevin was even trying to join into the adult conversation.

Emily had fallen asleep on the way home and was napping in Serena's arms, giving Serena, Mia, and Ji a little peace for now.

Ji sighed as he looked around the house, "In this state, I'm afraid it would be too dangerous to send the Rangers into battle, should the Nighlok come back."

"Wait, that was an option?" Serena looked to Ji in shock and then she pointed to her sister, "Emily's two! She can barely hold her teddy bear in her arms without tripping over it when she walks! She can't hold a sword and fight a Nighlok."

"We're not old enough to be Samurai," Kevin shook his head. "My dad says that even if the Nighlok come back, I'm not going to fight them until I'm sixteen."

"So it's just us, then?" Mia sighed and turned to Serena. "You know, the irony of this happening only days after I learn I'm not pregnant is not lost on me."

Suddenly there was a crash from the other room and Storm ran into the common room and ducked under the table. Serena, Ji, and Mia exchanged looks before getting up to see what had happened. They turned the corner and saw Mike and Antonio standing over a broken bonsai. The tree had been pulled from the dirt, the stones were scattered on the floor, as well as the dirt, and the pot that held the bonsai had smashed.

Both boys saw the older Samurai and pointed to the other, "He did it!"

"Antonio!" Jayden had followed and looked to his best friend. He then looked up at Ji, "Sorry. I told him not to play with the trees."

"Mike did it!" Antonio insisted and threw his hands up in the air, "I didn't touch it! Pinky promise!"

"Dude…" Mike muttered and then caught the looks he was receiving from the others. Then he shook his head, "Nahuh, I didn't do it!"

"You so did!" Kevin had come along as well to see what had happened and pointed an accusing finger at Mike, "You did! You did!"

"No I didn't!" Mike cried and stomped his foot, "Stop it! I didn't do it!"

Mia knelt down so she was at eye level with Mike, "If you didn't do it, then tell me what happened."

"I didn't do it!" Mike shouted again, shoved Mia and then stormed off into Mia and Kevin's bedroom, where he slammed the door and then locked it. As Mia picked herself up, Serena went to the door and tried to open it. Ji started picking up the broken pieces of his bonsai, muttering about how that was the fifty third to break since he took the Samurai into his home.

When Serena found the door was locked, she knocked loudly, "Michael, open this door right now or I will…"

"Wena! Wet!" Emily ran from the common room, her hand stuffed down her pants and she looked like she was crying. Then she tripped over her own legs and smashed into the floor. Serena held her head in her hands, completely stressed out and Mia went to pick Emily up. As she held Emily on her hip to inspect her head, she felt something wet press against her side. She sighed loudly and turned to Serena.

"Let me guess. Wet means she peed herself."

"I forgot, she needs diapers when she sleeps," Serena took the crying Emily from Mia's arms and hugged her, "It's okay, Emy. Accidents happen. Let's go get you changed into…"

"We have no children's clothes," Ji reminded the white Ranger. "I threw out Jayden's clothes as soon as he outgrew them."

"Stupid Nighlok," Serena muttered. Antonio, Jayden, Kevin, and even Emily gasped and pointed at her.

"You've got to watch that potty mouth, Serena," Mia chuckled. She took Emily back from Serena and walked excitedly to the front door, "Now, seeing as we don't have any clothes, let's go shopping! I have a dress in mind that would look adorable on you!"

Serena watched her leave with Emily and then she looked at the boys, "Great, that means I'm shopping for you. I guess it'll be good practice for when Terran gets older."

"I don't want to get clothes," Jayden shook his head. Kevin and Antonio agreed. Shopping was last on their list of things to do.

"The only clothes you can wear are the ones you have on now. Nothing else fits." Serena told them. "C'mon, boys, we need to go. We don't know how long you'll be stuck like this."

All three boys ran off in different directions, and Mike was still locked in the bedroom. Serena groaned and then did something she swore she would never do with Terran. She let them win.

"I'll buy you all a cool toy if you come with me."

Four little heads poked out from behind doors and around corners. Suddenly, all four young Samurai were by her side, tugging on her arms.

"Let's go!"

As they dragged her off, excited to pick out their toys, Serena looked over her shoulder at Ji.

"Unless you want another bonsai to break, baby-proof the house while we're gone."


	2. A Day At The Mall

Mia always wanted a little girl.

After buying a set of clothes and new underwear to change Emily into (she had soiled the last pair), Mia went all out, looking through everything on the shelves and racks and insisting little Emily would look adorable in them in hopes that it would convince Serena to buy the clothes. Because Mia had recently paid for a bed, ice-cream, and a trip to the zoo, she couldn't afford new clothes for anyone and it was up to Serena to cover the cost, but if Mia had her way, Serena was also going to be broke.

As much as Mia loved Terran, Terran wasn't a girl. Mia couldn't buy him cute dresses or play with his hair, or treat him like a little princess. But now that Emily was just a little girl, it was a dream come true for Mia.

Serena, meanwhile, was stuck trying to get the boys to pick out some clothes. They were a lot more interested in getting the toys she had promised them and refused to help. Even Kevin, who had started off so disciplined and grown up, was reverting back to a child his age. The boys were a terrible influence on each other.

"Try it on," Serena barked and shoved Antonio into the dressing room, "I have no idea what size fits and I do not want to have to come back!... MIKE! Stop looking up the mannequin's skirt! There's nothing to see!"

As Serena tried to pull Mike away from the mannequin, Antonio opened the door to the change room and snuck off. He walked past Jayden and Kevin and whispered he was going to the toy store. The other two followed him.

While Serena struggled with the boys, Mia was having a blast with Emily. She had figured out the little yellow Ranger's size and was picking out everything that was yellow and looked cute.

"Look at this, Emy," Mia held up a sundress for Emily to see, "What if Auntie Mia bought you this?"

Emily couldn't care less what she wore, and she was starting to get tired. At only two years old she was full of energy, but there was still only so much before she needed to nap. She ripped the dress from Mia's hands and stomped her feet.

"NO!" she screamed as loud as she could, drawing some attention from the other shoppers as everyone turned to Mia judgementally. The pink Ranger picked up Emily and the dress, as well as the other clothes she wanted to get for Emily and brought them to the cashier to ring up.

"Someone's a little crabby," she muttered. She sat Emily down on the counter and laid out the clothes for the cashier. She turned around for a second to look for Serena, "Are you done with the boys? Someone needs to pay and I'm broke."

Serena dragged Mike over to the cash and told him to stand with Mia while she dumped a pile of clothes for all the boys. Whatever was in her arms she would buy. She was too frustrated to care what they wore at this point. Then she gave Mia some cash.

"This should cover it. I'll get Jayden, Antonio, and Kevin from the change-rooms."

Mia nodded and handed the money to the cashier. Mike stood around, completely bored until he noticed another mannequin, and this one was a man. Curious, like any other child, Mike slipped away from Mia to investigate. He climbed up onto the stand and pulled the mannequin's pants right off his legs. Then he gasped.

"Auntie Mia! There's nothing there!" he grabbed himself, "Uh-oh!"

"Michael!" Mia cried and grabbed the shopping bags and Emily and raced over to Mike. She quickly discovered she was going to need more arms. Dropping the bags, she ripped Mike away from the mannequin and called for Serena, "I need help!"

"So do I," Serena came out of the change-room, "The boys are gone."

"What?" Mia cried. With hands she didn't know she had, she held onto Mike, carried Emily, and picked up the shopping bags and hurried over to Serena. She passed Emily over to Serena and then checked all the change-rooms herself. "You lost them?"

"You try keeping your eyes on four boys," Serena grumbled. "While you were off with Emily playing dress up, you left me with my share and yours!"

"Let's just find them before they get themselves into trouble," Mia sighed. Fortunately, they had been smart enough to take one of the strollers the mall provided. Mia put Emily, who at this point was kicking and screaming, into the seat and then ordered Mike to hold on. Serena, again, gave in and offered him an ice-cream cone if he stayed with the stroller no matter what.

"Alright, so we have three missing boys," Serena looked at the mall. It wasn't busy because of the recent Nighlok turning a large portion of the city into children, but it was still going to be hard spotting three Samurai kids. "Where would they go?"

Mike tugged on Serena's pants, "Aunt Serena, are we done shopping now?" he whined, "Can we go get toys, please?"

He put his hands together and started to beg. Serena was about to silence him when it occurred to both her and Mia at the same time.

"The toy store!"

There were two ways to get to the store, and because the boys were just boys, Mia and Serena had to assume they didn't know which way they were going. They split up, with Mia and Emily going left and Serena and Mike going right.

They searched frantically cutting in front of people and pushing them aside, apologizing the entire way until they nearly crashed into each other in front of the toy store. For a moment they seemed alarmed, terrified the boys had maybe left the mall accidentally, or decided to head somewhere else, but then they heard playful shouting from inside the store.

"Take that, Nighlok!" Antonio's little voice cried and the sound of crashing boxes could be heard. "No one messes with the team of Jayden and Antonio!"

"You're doing it all wrong!" the girls heard Kevin complain as they found the aisle the boys were in. Antonio and Jayden had found foam swords that looked exactly like the Rangers' Spin Swords and they were using them to take out imaginary Moogers and Nighlok, while at the same time ruining the displays the store had set up. Serena furiously took the swords from the boys hands and grabbed them all. She yanked them out of the store. Mia followed, pushing a crying Emily in the stroller and a whining Mike, who protested against the unfairness. Serena had promised he would get a toy.

"Shut up, all of you!" Serena cried, "We're going to the car and I don't want to hear another word!"

Children never listened. The moment those words came out of her mouth, a thousand more came from the mouths of the kids: Mike yelling because he wasn't getting a toy or ice-cream, Kevin, Antonio, and Jayden all shouting because Serena was ruining their fun, and Emily screaming loudly and kicking her legs because she was tired. Serena couldn't take it, and Mia was too shocked to be of much help. She had worked in a day care and had seen her fair share of temper tantrums, but taking care of five screaming Samurai was another matter entirely.

Too frustrated to care about good parenting, Serena, again, gave in. Ignoring the judgemental looks from the other people in the mall and the toy store, she brought all the kids back in and let them pick out a toy. Finally satisfied with their trip to the mall, and distracted with their toys for the time being, Serena and Mia had no problem loading them into the car.

Until…

"Aunt Serena, I need to pee," Mike squirmed in the car seat, dancing around as much as he could in the confined space. Serena massaged her temples and looked across to Mia, who had just finished strapping Kevin in. Mia shook her head.

"Nahuh, I'm not helping him with that. You do remember what happened last time Mike and I were alone and his pants went down."

"I'm not doing it," Serena shook her head, "He's my brother in-law. That's just weird. What if he needs help?"

"You already have a son."

"You do it."

"You do it!"

"Never mind," Mike said and picked up his spaceship toy to resume playing with it. The girls instantly turned to him.

"What do you mean, never mind."

"I don't have to go anymore," Mike smirked.

Serena pinched the bridge of her nose, "For god's sake, Michael. You couldn't have waited?"

"It was an emergency!" Mike cried. "I can only hold it for so long."

"I pity your mother," Mia sighed and then slammed the sliding door to the van. She climbed into the passenger seat while Serena took the wheel. Mike looked to the older girls.

"Um, I'm a little wet!"

"Maybe next time you won't piss yourself," Serena muttered. "You'll get changed when we get home."

"Someone's crabby," Antonio chuckled. "Who peed in your cheerios, Aunt Serena?"

"Apparently, Mike," Mia laughed.

Serena gripped the wheel and pulled out of the parking lot, "This spell better wear off soon."


	3. Being Parents 101

After getting Mike into some dry clothes, and making sure Ji had baby proofed the house, Serena and Mia were finally getting a moment of peace. Emily was napping and no longer screaming at the top of her lungs, and the boys were still having fun with their new toys.

Ji was in his room. As usual, when the Rangers were infected by a Nighlok's spell, he wanted to look to see if there was a way to reverse it without having to destroy the Nighlok. The more Samurai he had facing the Nighlok, the better the odds that the Rangers win. This meant that Mia and Serena were left doing most of the parenting themselves.

Serena was in the kitchen taking an aspirin. After her day, she needed it. Mia walked in as Serena swallowed the pill and leaned against the counter.

"We need to get on the same page."

Serena looked to her and muttered sarcastically, "Ya think?"

"I know I got distracted with Emily. I'm sorry. I should have been more help with the boys."

"Ya think?"

"But you need to calm down. You're letting the boys run all over you."

"I'm not…"

"Imagine if that was Terran who ran away. Would you really reward him running off and talking back with a toy? You're not that kind of mother, are you?"

"But there's five of them," Serena groaned. "And they aren't actually children."

"For now they are," Mia sighed, "And trust me, we need to get on top of this now. If we give in, they're going to be in charge. That's five kids ruling the house. I was sick from my job at the day-care for a week, so someone had to stand in for me and she got her ass kicked by three to eight year olds. The first few days, apparently she gave them everything they asked for, and then when she tried to set the rules…"

"They didn't listen," Serena sighed and nodded her head, "Yeah, I read the parenting books."

"So, I promise to help out more with the boys, if you promise I get cuddle time with baby Emy while she's in this state," Mia smirked, "I've waited all my life for a baby girl."

"She's my sister…"

"You already got her the first time she was two. It's my turn."

"What about Kevin?"

"Yeah," Mia scratched her arm nervously, "There's something seriously weird about snuggling with the little kid version of your fiancé. It feels… perverted."

"Good point," Serena nodded her head. "How about you watch Antonio and Emily, and I'll keep an eye on Kevin and Mike?"

"What about Jayden?"

"We'll share him. He was born and raised a Samurai, right? How much trouble can he be?"

Just then, a hellish scream rang all through the house. Seconds after, Jayden ran through the kitchen with his underwear on his head and a yellow teddy bear in his arms. Emily was chasing after him as fast as her legs would carry, screaming for him to give her her teddy back.

Ji rushed out of his room and saw the chaos unfold as he stood in the doorway to the kitchen. He then looked up at Serena and Mia.

"Now do you understand why I didn't like when Antonio visit?"

"I'll settle Emily, you get the bear and Jayden," Mia said. Serena nodded her head and raced after the red mini-Ranger while Mia lifted Emily into her arms to sooth her. Waking up and realizing her teddy had been stolen was obviously very traumatic for her.

Fortunately, Ji had done an excellent job child-proofing the home. He had set up many gates to keep the kids out of the dojo and the rooms with more important or dangerous items so they wouldn't hurt themselves. Racing down the halls led Jayden to a dead end, and he had nowhere to go. Serena slowed to a stop and look to Jayden, very unimpressed.

"Give the bear back to Emily, Jayden. That was very mean of you."

Jayden shook his head, "It's our prize. We got it fair and square."

"Would you like it if Emily took your new toy away from you?" Serena asked. She pointed to the kitchen "Now, you have two choices, Jayden, either you give the bear back to your sister, or I will take your race car away for the rest of the week."

"No! You can't do that! You promised I would get a toy!" Jayden shouted and stomped his foot angrily. "You can't take it…"

"I'm going," Serena turned to face the common room. Jayden screamed.

"NO!"

"One last chance…"

"NO!"

"Race car is gone," Serena announced and Jayden broke down into tears. He grabbed her leg and threw away the teddy bear, all while begging she let him keep his toy. Serena shook her head and dragged him to the common room. "I gave you a choice, Jayden. Maybe next time you'll think twice before stealing Emily's bear."

"I'll give it back! Look!" Jayden ran back to where he dropped the bear and picked it up. Then he hurried into the kitchen and gave Emily her teddy back. Serena saw him do so, but still held onto his race car.

"You will get this in the morning, then. Go wash up for dinner and tell the others to do the same."

"But…"

"Jayden," Serena gave him that warning tone. With a long face, Jayden dragged his feet to the bathroom. Serena hid the car in one of the kitchen cabinets and then turned to Mia, "That was better than the mall."

"Do you want to make dinner, or should I?"

"Cookie," Emily pointed to the cookie jar on the counter and gave Mia the puppy eyes she possessed even as an adult. Normally, Mia found it hard to resist Emily's puppy eyes, but in her teeny tine body, it was impossible. She turned Emily around to Serena.

"AW!"

"You have got to stop playing favourites," Serena chuckled and lowered Emily off the counter, "You need to wash up too, Emy. If you eat all your dinner, you'll get a cookie."

"Cookie!" Emily cheered and bounced down the hallway.

-Samurai-

After what seemed like an eternity, it was time for bed. With their new parenting arrangement, Mia and Serena were finding it a little easier to keep the young Samurai in line. Of course, their buttons were still being pushed, but when Serena got frustrated, Mia would step in, and when Mia had enough, Serena would take over. The tag team was working. The kids were starting to see that while they outnumbered the grown up, they were no match for them.

Mia was reading Mike, Antonio, and Kevin a bedtime story in the common room. The Shiba House didn't have many children's books, so Mia had to improvise with one of the history books from the bookshelf. All three boys seemed to like it though, Kevin especially. If Mia got her facts a little mixed up, he would correct her instantly. Mia thought it was kind of cute how even as a kid, Kevin was still able to recite early Samurai history off the top of his head. Though he was proving to be a lot more trouble than the grown up Kevin would even admit, he was a very smart young man. It was easy to see how he had turned into the man she fell in love with.

Eventually, the boys all drifted off to sleep in Mia's arms, warming her heart as she saw their little faces resting comfortably and she imagined the dreams they were having. Very carefully, she lifted them up and carried them to their beds. She put Kevin and Mike into hers and Kevin's bed and then she brought Antonio to his and Jayden's room.

There, Mentor had been busy putting Jayden to bed, insisting he wanted to take this time to be a proper father to the young boy. He had bathed Jayden, told him a story of witches and knights instead of Samurai, and tucked him in. Mia decided not to interrupt the moment and quickly put Antonio to bed and the walked out. Ji was sitting on the end of Jayden's bed, talking with the sleepy six year old.

"Ji…"

"Yes, Jayden."

"Daddy's team is all gone now, right? Next time the Nighlok come back, I have to fight them?"

"That's the plan. You will lead the next team into battle."

"Do you think I can do it?"

Ji nodded his head, "You will do a wonderful job. You will be just as good as your father, perhaps even greater."

Then Ji got up and walked to the foot of the bed. He planted a soft kiss on Jayden's forehead and smiled at him, "but we will worry about that later, I promise. For now, you are a child, and you deserve to enjoy this time."

"Does that mean Antonio, Mike, and Kevin can stay and play with me tomorrow?"

"They will be here for a long time."

"I like having them around. They're fun to play with. How come there were never any other kids around before?"

"It never crossed my mind how important it was for you," Ji tucked the blankets around Jayden and smiled happily, "Good night. Tomorrow we will have lots of fun."

"I can't wait," Jayden snuggled into his bed and closed his eyes. Within moments he was sound asleep and Ji tip-toed out of the room. He found Mia in the hallway, looking to him in awe.

"They drive me crazy, but they're so freaking cute," she cooed. "Antonio's excited about everything, Mike's a little rascal, Jayden's just… a mini version of himself and Kevin's…"

"That must be interesting for you," Ji chuckled, "Seeing Kevin as you've never seen him before."

"It's kind of weird, but he is really cute," Mia smirked. And then she turned to Ji, "What about Jayden?"

"What about him?"

"This is your second chance with him. I don't mean you screwed up, but you've made it clear before you would have done things differently in hindsight."

"A big part of me does hope the Nighlok doesn't return for a while. Jayden deserves this."

"You were cute in there with him, Ji. You deserve this too," Mia gave Ji a comforting squeeze on the shoulder, "Maybe, if the Nighlok does come back, Serena and I can go a little easy on him so he's forced to retreat again."

"Thank you, Mia. Unfortunately, your duty as Samurai comes first."

"Yeah, but Samurai duty isn't as cute as Samurai children."

-Samurai-

In Mike and Emily's bedroom, Serena was getting her little sister ready for bed. She had Emily bathed and had played a few songs on the flute to get her to settle down. Now it was the time of the night where Serena would just cuddle with Emily.

Serena missed this. She missed having these moments with her sister, and she missed seeing Emily so… innocent. At two years old, there was nothing that had tainted her, nothing that had left her feeling scared or vulnerable, and nothing that had left her scarred. She was just a kid. She was happy, she was carefree, and she was CUTE.

Serena was sure it had to do with the fact that Emily was the youngest by a few years compared to the others, and she was the only girl, but her little sister beat out the boys on the cuteness scale. Serena wanted to kiss and snuggle with her all night and eat her right up (in the cute, non-violent way, of course).

"Wena?"

Serena even missed her old nickname. "_Serena"_ had been too hard for Emily to say when she was learning how to talk, and so she had turned her sister's name into just _"Wena"_. Growing up, Serena hadn't been a big fan of it, but now that it was back, she had fallen in love with it, and with the way Emily spoke in general.

"Yes, Emy?"

"No home?"

Serena shook her head, "We're staying here tonight, okay."

"Me go home."

"Not tonight."

"Dada? Mama?"

"You're sleeping over at Uncle Ji's house," Serena tried to make this strange new home exciting for Emily, "And tomorrow you're going to wake up and we're going to have lots of fun playing together. You, me, Auntie Mia, and all your… brothers, I guess we can call them,"

"Me go home," Emily insisted and then yawned and rubbed her eyes. Serena put her down in her bed and kissed her cheek.

"Goodnight, Emy…"

"No!" Emily sat up, "me!" she smacked the empty space on the bed, "No go!"

Serena groaned. The plan had been that the boys share a room, Emily sleep in her room by herself, and Serena and Mia would share Serena's room. They needed to get up earlier than Emily even for training, and didn't want to wake the kids.

"Emily, I'm going to my bed now. Night, night!"

Serena tried walking out, hoping Emily would put herself to sleep, but as soon as she started to leave Emily jumped out of bed and chased after her. She clung onto Serena's legs.

"WENA! STAY!"

Serena sighed. This was very confusing for the little girl. Growing up, Serena and Emily had shared a room practically from the day Emily was born, all the way until Serena was too sick to share any room with anyone, and spend more time in the hospital than out. She knew bringing Emily to a new house and getting her to sleep alone was a challenge no one was going to win.

She picked up Emily and carried her over to the bed. She tucked her in and the lay down beside her. Emily nestled into her chest, hugging one of her arms so Serena couldn't get away.

When she was finally asleep, Serena kissed the top of her head, wiggled out of her grasp and then left the room. Once Emily was out, she was out for the night.


	4. Strolling Toddler

With the kids in bed, the Shiba House was finally quiet.

As Serena and Mia lay on the couch, taking advantage of the silence, Ji approached them with a paper in his hand. He held the paper before Mia's face. She sighed and took it.

"What's this?"

"Parenting tips from the Samurai's parents," Ji sat down beside the two girls and sighed, "Unfortunately, it seems the only way to reverse the spell is to destroy the Nighlok."

"Just the two of us, then," Serena grumbled, "This won't be easy."

"We can do it, though," Mia nodded her head; "Emily and Antonio have both defeated similar Nighlok by themselves."

"Yeah, but if the Nighlok turns us into kids, we're screwed."

"You'll hardly be a kid," Mia chuckled. Serena glared at her.

"Shut up. Respect your elders."

"In the morning, I will give you two a couple hours break to train. We will take advantage of the Nighlok's absence to learn to work together so that when the time comes, you two will know exactly how you will defeat him."

"Sounds like a good plan," Mia said and lifted herself from the couch. She dragged her feet to her room, completely exhausted, but before she left the common room she turned to Ji, "Wait, did you just say you'll give us a break so we can train?"

"Welcome to the wonderful world of parenting," Serena twirled her finger in the air in mock excitement and then followed Mia to the bedrooms for a well-deserved rest.

Ji leaned back on the couch. Though his day had been long, he could appreciate that parenting five children was a lot more exhausting. He picked up the papers he had offered to Mia and Serena, deciding he would take a look at them so that when morning came, he would have a little bit more of an understanding on how to deal with Mike, Kevin, Antonio, and Emily.

As he read, his eyes started to feel heavy and he drifted off to sleep on the couch. Just being in the presence of children was exhausting.

When he woke up, he saw four pairs of eyes staring at him. He jumped from the couch, startled, and sat up to check the time. Jayden, Antonio, Kevin, and Mike were all waiting patiently for him to get out of bed and make them breakfast.

"Ji makes the best pancakes," Antonio said with a smile and Jayden nodded his head to agree. Mike and Kevin both seemed excited at the mention of pancakes. Ji gave a little nod, indicating to the boys that he was getting up and he would make them the pancakes they asked for as long as they helped him in the kitchen.

He didn't know what had triggered it, but that night, Ji had had a dream that was more of a memory. It had taken him back to Jayden's childhood, after his father had passed away. Just like how Jayden had missed out on some of the wonderful perks of being a carefree young boy, Ji had missed out on a lot of very special parenting moments. Too busy trying to teach Jayden to be the best Samurai he could be, Ji never made time for catch in the yard, teaching Jayden to ride a bike, or cooking funny faced pancakes. This morning, he was determined to make up for the missed time not only with Jayden, but with the rest of the boys, whom he had grown to love as sons as well.

The boys were excited to help out, especially after hearing Ji would shape their pancake into whatever they wanted. With a watchful eye from Ji, they got to work breaking eggs, mixing batter, and dumping chocolate chips and blueberries into the mix. Ji felt a warm smile cross his lips when he saw the way Jayden was participating. Instead of being so focused on living a Samurai life, the little boy was enjoying being a little boy. With the other Samurai acting as siblings, Jayden was finally getting the chance to experience what he had been deprived of as a kid.

When each Samurai had a pancake made, Ji set them up at the table so they could eat. Mike and Antonio argued over who got the biggest pancake, while Kevin insisted every pancake was exactly the same, just in a different shape. Jayden stuffed his face, enjoying the chance to eat with his brothers – like he somehow remembered being older and missing out on moments like these in his real childhood.

"Maple syrup avalanche!" Mike cried out, lifting the bottle of syrup and pouring a very generous amount onto his pancake. The he made his dinosaur shape breakfast scream, "Ah! I'm drowning!"

"If he were drowning, he wouldn't be able to say I'm drowning," Kevin shook his head. Mike threw a blueberry topping at him. "What? It's true!"

"If you spend too much time in the water, you'll shrivel up into a prune," Antonio teased Kevin. The blue Ranger crossed his arms over his chest and shook his head.

"That's not true. You're making stuff up!"

"After last night's bath, did you notice wrinkly fingers and toes?" Antonio smirked and then he and Mike shared a laugh at Kevin's horrified look. Even Jayden was having a little fun listening to the boys tease Kevin.

"Uncle Ji!" Kevin turned around in his seat to look at Ji, who was chuckling to himself as he did the dishes, "Is it true I'm going to turn into a prune?"

"Of course not. Eat your pancakes boys."

"Who are you really going to believe?" Mike asked. Kevin gulped and finished eating the rest of his pancake in fear. Tonight he wasn't taking a bath no matter what. He had already spent a lot of time in the water and wasn't sure he could afford anymore.

While the boys enjoyed their pancakes, little Emily had gotten herself out of bed and was hiding around the corner from the kitchen. Unlike Kevin and Mike, who were old enough to know about the Shiba House, and Antonio who had visited the Shiba House many times as a child, Emily had no idea where she was. She had woken up in a strange bed, in a strange house, and with strange people. She couldn't even find her sister; who she remembered had tucked her into the strange bed the night before.

Clutching her teddy to her chest, she got up from the floor and hurried to the door. She wouldn't go near big Uncle Ji, as she was terrified of him, and because the dojo door was closed, Emily didn't know her sister was just on the other side, making those strange grunts and groans while training with Mia.

The front doors were big and heavy. As such, Emily had a very hard time getting them open. Fortunately for her, and unfortunately for the rest of the house, the button to open the door automatically was still set up from when Serena had been in a wheelchair. Emily pushed the bright red button and watched, amazed, as the door opened all by itself. She didn't have magic buttons like these back at home. It both fascinated and terrified her. She wasn't too scared or in awe to know this was her chance. As the doors started to close themselves she slipped past and got herself outside. Now all she had to do was find her way back home.

Well, first she had to figure out how to open the gate. It was locked tight, and she was just a little too short to reach it. It was similar to one of the gates she remembered from home, and she had figured out at an early age how to open it, giving her parents and Serena a heart attack the one time she left the property by herself. If Emily could just find a way to reach the lock and undo it, she could go back home.

"Help?" Emily asked from her bear and set him on the ground. Then she stepped on him, using him to give her a bit of a boost. The plush bear wasn't much help though, and if Emily was any taller, it was only by a centimeter or two.

So Emily decided to try another trick. Leaving her bear by the door, she collected as many little rocks as she could and piled them up in front of the gate. When she had enough, she climbed the unsteady pile and this time she could reach the lock. She fiddled with it for a moment before it finally unlocked and the door came open. The rock pile under her feet fell apart as it lost support from the door, and Emily went crashing down with it. Fortunately, she landed on top of most of the rocks and hardly felt anything. At least, there wasn't too much pain for teddy to fix. She picked up her bear and hugged him tight. When the pain subsided, Emily stood up and looked at the big forest. She took one step towards it and suddenly she was lifted off her feet.

-Samurai-

The sweat was pouring down Serena's face as her training session with Mia came to an end. They had figured out that the best way to prevent the Nighlok from turning them into children was to make sure they had eyes everywhere. To do that, Mia was going to have to watch Serena's back, and Serena would need to keep her eye on Mia's. They had practice fighting without leaving the other exposed and without taking their eyes off each other. It had been a lot of hard work, but if it helped them to defeat the Nighlok and return the other Samurai to their proper ages, it would be worth it.

As the girls gulped down some water, they heard the loud Gap Sensor and rushed to the common room to check it out. Ji and the boys arrived right after them, with the boys covering their ears. The Gap Sensor was really loud and it was bothering all of them. Ji turned it off while the girls looked at the map.

"Nothing," Mia carefully checked the city and around the Shiba House. "There's nothing."

"Maybe it's broken," Jayden suggested and looked to Ji, "You should fix it."

"I will take a look," Ji promised the girls. "If something comes up, I will let you know."

"That means I can shower," Serena smiled and she started to head to her bathroom for a quick shower. The boys went to play with their toys, Jayden having just recovered his race car after having it confiscated the night before.

Mia decided this morning would be her chance to play dolly with Emily. She had always dreamed of having a daughter to dress up, style her hair, and play princess games with, and with Emily as a child, the dream was coming true a little early and Mia would take this time to enjoy it. The boys were distracted anyways, and after Serena stood her ground with Jayden, they knew better than to disobey their two aunts. She knew they wouldn't cause too much trouble while she spent some time getting Emily dressed up.

Assuming the little girl was still in bed because she wasn't with the boys, Mia walked to Mike and Emily's room to wake her up. She opened the door and had a look around, but she didn't see Emily. She didn't panic. She had recently bought Mike and Emily a king size bed, and at her full height Emily could get lost in it. A little two year old version of Emily would likely drown in the blankets.

"Emy," Mia called softly as she walked to the bed and started to pat it down. "Wake up. We're going to play dress up with all your new clothes and your cute little curls."

Another thing Mia loved about Emily was her head of curly hair. Growing up, Mia's hair had always been straight, and she had been jealous of all the little girls with the curls. Finally, with Emily, she could experiment on her hair and do things she hadn't been able to do with her own hair.

"Emy?" Mia's tone had a bit of panic in it and she started to pat the bed a little frantically, only to realize Emily wasn't there. Mia tore the blankets off the bed, just to make sure she hadn't missed a spot.

The bed was bare. Emily was gone.

Mia took a few calming breaths, "She might just be in another room," she told herself, "No need to panic."

The Shiba House was big, and Emily was small, so Mia tried to keep her cool as she searched everywhere, even looking in rooms that had been blocked off to the children. Kids, especially little ones, had a habit of finding trouble.

Emily had a habit of finding trouble.

Mia searched and searched until she bumped into Serena. The white Ranger had just come out from the bathroom and was on her way to tell Mia she could shower if she wanted to. Mia gulped loudly. Though she and Serena had taken the role of surrogate mothers to the kids and weren't supposed to favour one over the other, Emily was Serena's little sister. Announcing she was lost would enrage the white Ranger.

But Mia had to do it, "I can't find Emily."

Serena blinked for a minute and then shook her head, "She never was a fan of dress up. She's probably hiding from you."

"No, Serena, I looked everywhere. I can't find her."

"Did you ask Ji where she was?" Serena was trying to keep a cool head. "He promised he would watch all the kids."

Serena walked past Mia and over to the common room, where Ji had just brought out clothes for the boys to change into for the day. Serena crossed her arms over her chest and glared at Ji.

"Where's my sister?"

"With you," Ji gave Serena a very confused look and then he gestured to the papers, "Your father told me she was fearful of strangers, especially men. I figured you would keep her with you."

"You said you would watch the kids while Mia and I trained," Serena raised her voice just a little, "kids as in boys and girl. Emily was supposed to be with you."

"Please don't shoot the messenger," Mia took a step away from Serena and held her hands up, "but if Mentor hasn't seen her all day, and we haven't seen her, and if she's not in the house…"

"You must not have checked everywhere," Serena stomped off to inspect the house herself. Mia sighed and looked down at the boys.

"Are you boys ready for a mission?"

"Do we get to be real Samurai?" Antonio asked excitedly and started to bounce up and down, "Yes! What do we do? What do we do?"

"Find Emily," Mia instructed. "She's got to be somewhere in the house."

The boys nodded, accepting their challenge and they all set off to look around the house, searching every corner, no matter how ridiculous it seemed.

Eventually, Mike wandered off to the front door and noticed there was a button near the wall. Curiosity overcame him and he pushed it.

"Whoa!" his eyes lit up as the door magically opened itself, "Guys! Guys! Come here!"

Mia, Ji, and the boys heard Mike's call and rushed over. Mia and Ji were hoping he had found Emily and were disappointed when the saw him pressing the button by the door repeatedly. "It magically opens the door! See!"

Mia's eyes suddenly widened, "SERENA!"

"You better have fucking found her, Mia. If you lose my sister I'm going to…" Serena arrived and saw that without anyone holding it, the door was open. It only took seconds for her to realize what Mia had called her over for.

"The gate!" she cried and raced outside. If Emily had somehow gotten outside, then the gate was the only thing that would keep her on Shiba grounds where she was safe.

The Gate was always locked at night, and no one had gone to unlock it that morning, which meant that if it was unlocked, Emily had gotten out.

"Please no, please no!" Serena cried and to her horror the gate was not only unlocked, but open as well, and the pile of rocks by the door meant someone had opened it from the inside. Emily had gotten out.

Serena, imagining her very young sister alone in the forest, or even the city if she managed to get that far, terrified her. With Nighlok coming after her, as well as bad people in general, especially those who preyed on kids, anything could have already happened to Emily. Feeling sick to her stomach, Serena threw up her breakfast as the others caught up to her.

"Nasty," Kevin wrinkled his nose and took a step back.

"Hey, look!" Jayden stepped beyond the Shiba grounds and grabbed a piece of paper that had been pinned to a tree. Ji quickly pulled him back into the yard. It was dangerous for the Samurai to be even a few inches away from Shiba grounds, especially as children.

"Who, funny letters," Mike commented as he looked at the paper in Jayden's hands, "Even I write better than that!"

"It's not funny letters," Kevin took the paper from Jayden, "It's Japanese."

"Looks stupid to me," Antonio agreed with Mike. Kevin handed the paper up to Ji, who read the note out loud.

"_Dear young Samurai. Are you aware of the power of the tears of children? I am. Sincerely, your friend, Serrator._"

Hearing the message, Serena threw up again. Mia held her hair back for her and looked to Ji worriedly.

"This wasn't some crazy random Nighlok. Serrator knew what he was doing all along."

"Who is Serrator?" Antonio asked.

Mia's eyes were suddenly wide, "Serrator's probably still weak! Even scared, adults put up more of a fight than children do! By turning us into kids we're less of a threat!"

"Inside, boys," Ji pointed to the house and ushered the kids inside. Then he turned around and looked to Mia and Serena, "Hopefully Serrator has no idea you two weren't affected by his last Nighlok."


	5. Goggie Has Emy

The boys knew there was something wrong. With the note, the way their aunt were behaving, and the fact that they hadn't seen their little sister all day helped them put the pieces together that something bad had happened. The four boys very carefully stepped into the common room, where their aunts and uncle Ji had been working all day, and had been in a mood where anything the boys did caused them to scream and lose their patience.

Jayden, knowing he was the red Ranger, even as a boy, decided he would step up. Leading the boys, he approached Ji, who seemed to be the least hostile of all the grownups.

"What happened?"

"He lost my fucking sister!" Serena screamed as she answered Jayden's question. Ji was disappointed as he turned to her.

"Serena, please, they are children. They do not need to hear that type of language…"

"Emily's a toddler! A baby! She doesn't need to be fighting for her life! If she still can!"

"Emily's dying?" Mike had a look of deep concern on his face. Though he had spent most of his time at the Shiba playing with the boys, he did care for Emily. He didn't want anything to happen to her.

"She's not dying," Mia assured him and the other boys as she tapped on the map, trying to figure out what could have possibly happened. She knew a Nighlok had appeared in front of the house, but then quickly disappeared as well, and though that was enough proof to know someone had snatched Emily, Mia still couldn't be certain. She didn't know if, even at two, Emily had been strong enough to get away, or if Emily had left the house long before the Nighlok turned up. There was a possibility she was still wandering the forest, or even in the city.

"Then what happened to her?" Kevin asked. Serena didn't answer this time. She got up, pushed her stool over in anger, and then stormed out of the room. Mike went after her, wanting to help.

Jayden went to the map to help Ji and Mia figured out what happened and what to do. He remembered using the map when his father had been the red Ranger and knew a little bit of what he was doing. Antonio, with some excitement, decided he would help too. This was his chance to be a real Samurai – a real hero.

With the boys helping Ji, Mia took a break from the map and sat down on her stool. Though her blood wasn't boiling as much as Serena's was, and she wasn't as terrified, she was still very scared for the youngest Samurai. If Serrator did have her, it was one of the most twisted and dangerous Nighlok the Samurai had ever faced with one of the most innocent and vulnerable Samurai the Nighlok had ever come across. It was a combination that spelt disaster for little Emily.

As she held her head in her hands, she felt a small hand touch her back. She looked up and saw it was Kevin who had come to try and comfort her. She pulled him into her arms, hugging him tightly.

"We want to help," Kevin told her as he wrapped his little arms around her neck. "We're Samurai in training. There's no better lesson than a real life scenario."

"No," Mia shook her head and gently pushed Kevin away, "This is a grownup problem. You boys can help Ji here at home, but Auntie Serena and I will…"

"No," Kevin stomped his foot and gave Mia a powerfully determined look, "We _are_ Samurai. No matter how scary we always do as much as we can to protect the innocent."

"Yeah," Antonio nodded his head, "And whoever took our little sister deserves some justice, Samurai style!"

He struck a pose, which made Jayden slap his hand to his forehead and Kevin couldn't resist criticizing. Mia just watched them, very surprised by their reaction to all this. As annoying as they were, and as small as they were, they all seemed to understand who they were.

Kevin especially. She looked to the child-version of her fiancé and couldn't believe just how focused he was. Now that he knew it was his moment to shine, he wouldn't let anything get in the way of him being the best Samurai he would be, even his youth. Kevin was willing to sacrifice everything for the good of the planet and for the right to call himself a true Samurai. She pulled him back into her arms and kissed his cheek.

"I can't let you guys get hurt," she looked at the boys and then up at Ji, who seemed to agree with her, but only a little bit. There was a look in his eyes that seemed to say he would let the boys go out and fight if they needed too. Mia shook her head, "No, Mentor, you can't be serious! They're children! Children have no business fighting in the war!"

"We are down a Samurai…"

"We lost a child!" Mia screamed. "When someone kidnaps a kid, you don't send other kids to track him down. You're asking for trouble…"

"We want to help!" Jayden shouted at Mia, hoping he could get that point across to her. "We are Samurai first, and if there's a Nighlok out there that needs stopping, we need to stop it!"

"Besides," Mike came back into the room, holding onto Serena's hand, "You don't think we would ask you to take us into battle without a plan, right?"

Mia looked over to Serena, who nodded her head slowly, "Emily…"

"I'm scared too, but we lost one kid. We can't lose another."

"We won't," Serena looked over to Ji, "Mom knew that when she would leave to come here, I would be the Samurai of the house. That scared her, so she taught me a symbol to keep me safe. I don't remember what it was, though."

Ji started looking through the books in his bookshelf and then he pulled one out. He opened it to a page with several different symbols and pointed to one in middle of the page, "This is an individual version of a security symbol. It keeps Nighlok from getting close for five hours. I remember your mother telling me you had already mastered it."

"Is it hard to do?" Mia asked.

Ji nodded his head, "Extremely. It requires a lot of energy, and a lot of time recovering. Once the five hours is up, a lot of Samurai who have used it in the past were still weak and vulnerable. It is a temporary solution."

"But it's all we have right now to keep the boys safe," Serena looked to Ji, "You need to do it on each of the boys. We're going to need their help."

"I don't know if I have enough energy to do it four times…"

Serena grabbed Ji by the shirt and slammed him into the wall, "You let my _baby_ sister get out of the house, out of the yard, and into the hands of a slimy Nighlok who has already almost succeeded in killing the entire team as grownups. You will protect the boys or I'm turning you over to Serrator so he can do whatever it is his twisted mind wants to do to you so that the river rises."

Antonio whispered to Jayden, "Someone put her crabby pants on this morning."

Ji managed to push Serena away and gave her a little nod. He did feel guilty for what had happened and he knew she had a point – the boys had a point. Though he was a Samurai Mentor, he was a Samurai, and any good Samurai did everything they could to ensure the innocent were safe.

"Three hours, tops," he said, "I can protect all the boys, but only for three hours."

"That'll have to do," Mia put her hand on Serena's shoulder and guided her away from Ji. "Let's let him work on that while we come up with some way to get Emily back."

-Samurai-

Serrator massaged his temples as the piercing scream of a little girl gave him the worst headache of his Nighlok life. He had managed to capture the young yellow Ranger, and he was using her tears to not only raise the river, but to help the healing of Dekker and Dayu, who were still badly wounded from their failed and stupid plan to get Dekker's son back from an army of angry Samurai. Water from the Sanzu River would help their wounds heal at a much faster pace, and though Serrator didn't plan on letting Dekker or Dayu out of their bonds for a while, he wanted them in full form quickly.

And while he was happy the yellow Ranger was terrified, and happy the tears were flooding down her face, he couldn't get her screams to stop. The more he yelled at her to shut up, the louder she screamed.

"WENA!"

"I don't know what your wena is, but whatever it is, NO!" Serrator shouted at her, punching the top of her cage, hoping to startle her into silence. Emily just screamed louder and started rattling the bars of her cage. She was throwing a fit.

"Wena! Wena! Wena!"

"No! No! No!"

Emily suddenly breathed in; taking as much air into her lungs as possible and she never let it out. Her cheeks were bloated, her face was turning red and Serrator knew she had stopped her own breathing. Though he wanted her to suffer, he couldn't afford to kill her yet. Her tears were raising the river and giving him power.

Chained to a tree, watching the entire ordeal, Dekker and Dayu looked to each other with a little laugh. Though they didn't want to see the Rangers win, they hated Serrator so much more than they hated the Samurai. Watching him struggle with a small Samurai was proving to be pretty funny.

"Shut up!" Serrator turned to them, "Shut up and tell me how I get her to breathe again?"

"Give her her wena," Dayu suggested.

"Even if I wanted to, I have no idea what a wena is."

Emily finally let go of her breath and as she exhaled, she screamed louder than any time before and she started kicking, punching, and throwing herself around the cage. She was no longer scared or suffering. She was mad.

Anger didn't help the river to rise as much as fear and suffering did. Serrator wanted her to hurt. He wanted her to fear him. He was not accomplishing that at all. He lifted her cage so she was at eye level with him and shouted, "You will fear me!"

Emily screamed in response, matching his shouts. Then she grabbed a lock of his hair and pulled as hard as she could, slamming his face into the cage. Serrator tried to throw the cage to the ground, but Emily didn't let go, making him tug at his hair once again.

"She is Serena's sister," Dayu chuckled, "That's for sure."

"Wena!" Emily screamed and grabbed the other lock of hair that fell down the side of Serrator's face. She pulled on one, then the other, rolling his head from side to side and refused to stop, no matter what. Serrator shouted and cursed and even threatened to kill her, but Emily continued to tug and pull.

Serrator had had it. He fell to his knees in front of the cage and looked to Emily, "What will shut you up?"

"Wena!"

"I don't know what a wena is. Tell me something I can understand."

"Out," Emily pointed to the lock on the cage. Serrator nodded and removed the lock. He opened the door and Emily crawled out. She pushed herself up onto her feet and then smiled.

Serrator didn't like that smile. Smiling meant she was happy and happiness did not help him at all. He grabbed her arm, intending on causing her pain once again, but Emily bit him and she bit him hard. Serrator was forced to let go. As he nursed his hand, Emily grabbed him by the hair again.

"Play."

"What?"

"Play! You goggie!"

"What is a goggie?" Serrator turned to Dayu and Dekker for help.

"Play goggie!" Emily shouted and pulled on Serrator's hair again. "Woof! Woof! Goggie!"

"Woof? Woof?" Serrator asked. Emily smiled and gave him a big hug.

"Love goggie!"

Serrator growled. This was not what he had planned.


	6. Little Samurai vs Serrator

If the Samurai were going to find Emily, they needed to get out and start looking.

They knew Serrator was smart. Though the Nighlok he had sent after the Rangers seemed ridiculous, it had all been a part of his brilliant plan to raise the Sanzu River. Children were more likely to get scared and to feel the hurt and suffering that the Nighlok needed to fill their precious river. Children were also a lot weaker.

Though it had been a while since Serena had stabbed Serrator in the heart, he still wasn't fully recovered. Dayu and Dekker weren't recovered either, and neither was Xandred. When it came to strength, the Rangers had the clear advantage. Serrator had found a way to take that from them by turning them all into weak and defenseless children, giving himself more power. It was a smart plan, but it had its flaws.

For one: the Nighlok hadn't gotten all the Rangers. Serena and Mia were still at their right age and strength, which meant there were two very powerful Samurai Serrator needed to face if he wanted to put an end to the team of Rangers.

And, more importantly: maternal instincts. Though Mia and Serena weren't the mothers of the Samurai, they had been put in charge of caring for them, giving them that need to protect the kids. On top of that, Serena and Mia were both very maternal in nature. Serena was already a mother, and Mia had always been the mother to the Rangers.

And no one, not even the most powerful Nighlok, ever threatened one of their teammates – their children – without suffering the consequences.

Serena and Mia were out for blood, and with them, they brought four very brave little boys who were protected by the symbols Ji had put around them. No Nighlok could get near them without being repelled away by a powerful force. If Serrator tried to grab them, he would be blasted back and weakened considerably.

Thanks to the shields, the plan was to send the boys in first. No matter who they came face to face with they were completely protected until the three hours were up. The boys had already run circles around Mia and Serena the day before, wearing them out without using powerful energy to drain them of theirs. There was no telling what they would do to the Nighlok.

But first, Serena and Mia knew they needed to find where Serrator had taken Emily. She knew Serrator wouldn't be stupid enough to bring her to the Netherworld and kill her off, when it was obvious he wanted her for her tears, her fear, and her pain. The Netherworld would kill her off way too quickly, so she had to still be on Earth.

The Samuraizers weren't as great at picking up the Nighlok's energy as the map back at the Shiba House, but with Ji out of commission from using so much energy, and the clock ticking not only for the shield around the boys, but for Emily, Serena and Mia had to get out and start looking.

Finally, they got to a spot in the woods where the Samuraizers started beeping.

"There's in this part," Mia announced.

"My dad always said to keep an eye out for danger once the Samuraizers beeped," Kevin said. "It never says exactly where the Nighlok are hiding, but it means they are close."

"Not close enough," Serena muttered and looked around. They knew they were in the right spot to start looking, but they had a lot of ground to cover. It could still be hours before they were close enough to Emily to save her, and the boys only had another two hours and a half of protection left.

"What do we do?" Mia asked.

Mike touched the trunk of a tree and looked up, "What if we ask the plants if they saw anything?"

Serena and Mia looked to each other and then to Mike, "What are you talking about?"

"Hello!" Mike waved his arms around, "I'm the green Ranger! The forest guy! Daddy says if I try really hard, I can talk to trees."

"You've never talked to trees before," Serena muttered.

"They usually don't talk back," Mike sighed. "They don't like humans because we're always cutting them down."

Mia chuckled. Serena pinched the bridge of her nose and sighed.

"My life is weird. The fate of my once adult, now baby sister rests in the hands of a kid who thinks he can talk to trees but they won't talk back because they are mad at us. Is there a way out of Wonderland, by any chance?"

"Shh," Kevin hushed her so Mike could focus, "Be quiet. Do you always talk this much when someone is trying to work?"

Mike suddenly started bouncing, "This way!" he darted off on his own, "The tree says to follow him."

"Follow the tree?" Serena asked and then turned to Mia. The pink Ranger shrugged her shoulders.

"Never underestimate a child. Besides, it's not like we have a better plan."

"She's dead. My poor sister is dead."

"Hurry up!" Antonio called to the girls as he and the boy raced through the woods.

-Samurai-

Serrator wasn't sure how this had happened. One minute, he had been in control, scaring and traumatizing the little yellow Ranger.

The next, she was on his back, riding him like a pony, and he wasn't sure there was a way to make her stop. Anytime he told her playtime was over, she would scream, making his headache worse. She wasn't scared of him anymore. She would just get angry. That wasn't what he wanted at all. Though anger in humans did help the Nighlok, it was nowhere near as good as pain, suffering, and fear.

"Stop!" Emily cried and tugged on his hair, pulling his head back. She then climbed off him and pulled him over to a bush. She plucked a few berries from the bush and held them out in her little hand, "Hosey eat!"

"No," Serrator frowned and stood on his knees. Emily pulled his hair again.

"Yes! Eat!"

"No," Serrator shook his head. "I am not hungry, and I am not a horse. I am one of the most powerful Nighlok to ever exist. We will stop with this nonsense and you will coward in fear as I…"

"EAT!" Emily pulled his head down by his hair and smeared the berries all over his face. She smiled contently and stroked his cheek, "Nice hosey."

Still injured, and still captives of Serrator, Dekker and Dayu watched in amusement. For once, they were enjoying their time on Earth. The feared, the mighty Serrator was at the mercy of the smallest Samurai they had ever seen.

Emily then led Serrator to the stream by his hair and she pointed to the water, "Fiwfty?"

"What?"

"Fiwfty!" Emily pointed to the water, "Dwink!"

"Drink it?" Serrator shook his head, "Water from this realm is dangerous to us Nighlok, just as Sanzu Water is poisonous to you. We cannot take too much of it before…"

Emily held her breath, puffed her cheeks, and her face turned red. Serrator started to panic, fearing he would lose her before the river would get to where he wanted it to be, but then he got an idea. So far, the yellow Ranger had used her inability to breathe to take control, but Serrator had to wonder what would happen if he took control of her breathing. What would happen if she couldn't take a breath when she pleased? So he picked her up and threw her into the lake.

At two years old, Emily didn't know how to swim. She flailed in the water, screaming and crying loudly. Now it was Serrator's turn to smile. Finally, he had scared her. He could feel her tears filling the Sanzu River as she fought for her life against the water. When he thought she had enough, he reached out and grabbed her arm. He lifted her out of the water and held her up.

"No more time for games," he growled and dropped her onto the ground. He towered over her and glared at her menacingly. Emily looked up and shrank in terror.

"Hosey?"

"No more horses. This time, I am master!"

"WENA!" Emily screamed and got up to try and run. Serrator grabbed the back of her shirt and then the back of her neck. He dragged her over to a tree and pushed her against it.

"You will cry!"

Emily did exactly that. She cried, she struggled, and she screamed for her sister. Terrified from nearly drowning, hurt from Serrator's aggression, and upset her sister wasn't coming to comfort and protect her, she was giving Serrator exactly what he wanted.

"WENA!" she screamed loudly. Serrator pulled her away from the tree and then smashed her back into it.

"No wena! I don't care what it is or what you want. You will never see your wena again!"

Serrator grabbed her by the throat, hoping to scare her more by controlling her breathing again, but just as his hands touched her neck, he was knocked off his feet and shot into a tree by a powerful force. He hit the tree and then the ground hard and struggled to get himself up to his feet. When he looked around to see what had hit him, he saw four little Samurai standing around him.

"Try and do that to us you big ugly shit head!"

"MICHAEL!" the pink Ranger shouted, "Language, please!"

"Children?" Serrator chuckled and looked to what he recognized as the little Samurai, "You send children after me?" he looked to the pink Ranger and laughed, "You must be desperate!"

"Why is your face all red, ugly man?" Antonio asked, titling his head to the side quizzically, "Did you miss your mouth?"

Serrator wiped the berries from face from when the yellow Ranger had tried to force him to eat. Then he growled and reached out to grab Antonio. Before he got too close though, he saw symbols shinning bright, warning him to stay away. He smirked.

"Ah, you are protected," he looked over to the pink Ranger, "I will give you some credit. However…"

With a mighty leap, he jumped over the boys and their shield and landed next to Emily. She hadn't yet seen her sister and wasn't comfortable around the pink Ranger or the boys enough to run to them. Serrator grabbed her and lifted her into his arms.

"Wena!" she screamed.

Serrator smirked at the pink Ranger and the boys. They all knew it was dangerous to approach him when he was holding Emily. Serrator held her up, "I have my own shield."

"WENA!" Emily screamed again. Serrator covered her mouth with his hand.

"Shut up, you insolent child! I will… WHAT!" he cried when he saw Emily pointing to something next to him. He turned around and saw the white Ranger standing beside him with her arms crossed over her chest.

"Who is the one person you don't want to come face to face with after kidnapping my sister?" Serena was tapping her foot impatiently on the ground, "Is it option A: the white Ranger, option B: Serena, or option C: Wena?"

"What is a…?" before Serrator could ask, he was punched in the face by the white Ranger and he dropped Emily as he stumbled back. At that point, as he struggled to find his balance again, the four boys charged at him and each of them managed to tackle him, forcing their shields to blast him away, and with the combined strength of all four of the boys, Serrator was launched through the trees and high into the sky.

With Serrator now out of the way, Serena and Mia turned their attention to Dekker and Dayu, who were still helplessly chained to a tree and injured from their last encounter.

"Boys," Serena smirked, "Go give Auntie Dayu and Uncle Dekker a great big hug from cousin Terran."

The boys nodded, excited at the chance to, basically, blow up two more monsters. They took each other's hands and started running at full speed towards the Nighlok. Dekker and Dayu cried out in pain as they were launched high into the sky, like Serrator.

In the sky, there were no cracks, and no way to save themselves. Serrator, Dekker, and Dayu all hit the ground, miles away from where they started. Their Nighlok bodies prevented them from taking enough damage to kill them, but they were unmoving.

With the danger gone, Serena picked Emily up and wrapped her up in her arms, "Don't you ever leave the house like that again, Emy."

"Bye bye, goggie?"

"Doggie is back at home," Serena promised. She gave her sister a hug, "You can play with her once we get you cleaned up in the bath, okay?"

"No play. Goggie bad. Cookies!"

Serena chuckled. She had no idea what her sister really wanted, but when they got home, she was ready to spoil Emily with anything she asked for.

As Serena led the way home, Mia started rounding up the boys. She gave them all high-fives, proud of them for taking on Serrator and protecting Emily.

"You boys were awesome. Cookies for everyone when you get home."

The boys cheered and ran off, cutting past Serena as they raced to see who could get home first. Mia then jogged until she caught up to Serena and sighed.

"That takes care of Serrator for now, but what about the kids."

"What about them?"

"They're cute, but they can't stay kids forever. Do you think that Nighlok's coming back?"

"I hope so," Serena nodded, "Before we lose another kid."


	7. Life With Kids

A couple of days after Serrator's failed attempt to use Emily's tears to raise the level of the Sanzu Water, the Shiba House was "back to normal". The Nighlok who had turned the Samurai into children still hadn't turned up, and had likely avoided coming back to the human world because of Serrator's plans to use children's tears. Fortunately, for the Samurai, Serrator, Dekker, and Dayu had all been taking care of, and Mia, Serena, and Ji were getting used to the fact that they were in a house with five children.

"Oh, Emy," Serena knelt down before her sister. Mia had spent the morning dressing Emily up, taking advantage of the fact that Emily was two to treat her like she would her daughter. Serena gently touched the pig tails hanging from the sides of Emily's head. They were curled loosely and bounced as she did. Emily was also wearing a soft yellow sundress and looked cute as a button. Serena gently tapped her nose, "Aren't you pretty, beautiful girl."

"What have you and the boys been up to this morning?" Mia asked. She set up a spot for Emily to colour at the table, knowing that would keep her distracted for hours.

"Mike's playing his video games," Serena gestured to the TV, where Mike and Antonio were playing, and Kevin and Jayden were watching in fascination. They had never really gotten the chance to play video games in their previous childhood. Mia looked a little worried but Serena laughed, "Kiddies games that I picked up at the store."

"A Samurai life is violent enough for the kids," Mia nodded her head, "but I don't want them in front of the TV all day. What if we take them to the park later?"

"Park?" all the kids looked up excitedly after Mia said the P-word. Serena groaned loudly and suddenly had four boys tugging at her shirt.

"We wanna go to the park! Can we go now? Please, please, please!"

"You had to say it," Serena glared at Mia, "Thank you very much… Emy, where are you going?"

Emily was already sitting in the hallway with her shoes in her hands, and she was trying to put them on her feet. Like any child, she was having trouble with her shoes. Serena saw this and sighed.

For Emily growing up, her dyslexia had been a big issue, even at the age of two; long before she was diagnosed she had showed symptoms. She was able to learn and keep up in school, but she learned differently and for the most part, she learned at a slower rate. Seeing Emily struggling with her shoes reminded Serena of how long it too Emily to tie her shoes as a kid and how frustrating it had gotten for poor Emily, who had been teased constantly for putting her shoes on the wrong feet, and who tripped over her laces several times in a day because she wouldn't tie them.

"Let me help, Emy," this time around, Serena was hoping to get started on helping Emily with her learning disorder long before it became a real issue. Messing up her shoes was no big deal at two years old, but if Serena could teach her a trick or two now, it would help a lot in the future.

"Me!" Emily pushed her sister away. She wanted to be independent and fortunately the shoes that fit her feet had come with Velcro, but that was no help with left and right. Emily slipped her shoes on, stood up, and then sat down with a huff. The shoes hurt her feet. "Boken."

"The shoes aren't broken, they're on the wrong feet," Kevin stated as he sat down beside her and tied his own shoes without help. Emily watched him do so and then looked to her feet. His shoes didn't look funny. His shoes looked cool.

"Emily has to learn, Kevin," Mia reminded the young boy. "Just like you had to learn when you were her age. Why don't you help her out?"

"I know a trick," Serena smiled and got up. She walked to Mia's bedroom while Kevin took Emily's feet and removed her shoes. Then he put them on the right way and smiled at Emily.

"See, isn't that better?"

"No boken?"

"They were never broken," Kevin told her. Serena came back at that moment with two bottles of nail polish. She asked Emily to hold out her hands.

"I'm going to paint your nails, okay?" Serena opened the first bottle – a yellow bottle – and painted all five of Emily's fingers yellow. Then she started to paint the shoe on the same side as the hand, smearing the nail polish all over until almost the entire top part of the shoe was yellow. Serena closed the bottle and opened the other one – a pink bottle, and did the same with the other hand and shoe.

"That's interesting," Mia commented. Serena nodded her head.

"Yeah, there's no sense teaching Emily her left and right. This trick was fool-proof for her as a kid, though we usually painted the bottom of the shoes so the other kids wouldn't notice as quickly."

Serena then took Emily's shoes off and dropped them on the ground. She mixed them up and then smiled at Emily, "Now try putting your shoes on, squirt."

Emily did as she was asked, and thanks to Serena's trick she managed to get it right. She smiled brightly, happy she had done it all by herself.

"Now can we go to the park?" Jayden asked, bored with waiting for her little sister to figure out her shoes.

Serena nodded her head, "Let's go."

-Samurai-

The trip to the park was fun for everyone. Ji had even tagged along and was playing a game with the boys on the play structure while Mia and Serena were in the sand building castles with Emily. Whenever she could, Serena would use her symbol power to help reinforce the castle to make it bigger and better. Somehow, they had gotten into a competition with a boy around Emily's age, who was at the park with his babysitter.

When the boy and his sitter looked away, Serena built up the castle so it was taller. Mia then snatched her Samuraizer.

"Are these really the morals you want to teach Emily?" she asked. "That using her symbol power to cheat is okay?"

"I have an advantage and I'm going to use it."

"It's friendly competition between two year olds."

"BOOM!" Emily cried, smashing her fists into the castle, breaking it apart and sending sand everywhere. Serena watched as all her hard work crumbled. It seemed this entire time, it had been Serena vs. the little boy, and Emily just wanted to play in the sand.

Mia chuckled and grabbed Emily in her arms, snuggling with her, "You're adorable, Emy."

"'Gain!" Emily cried and clapped her hands.

Serena crossed her arms over her chest, "Nahuh, I worked hard on that castle, Emy, and you broke it. I'm not making you another."

Mia shook her head and laughed as Serena got up and walked to the stroller, "You know, Emy, even now I find myself wondering who's really the older, wiser sister."

Emily grabbed some sand in her little fists and threw it into the air. Mia covered her eyes but forgot to close her mouth. She spit sand out and then frowned at Emily, "Or not…"

Over on the play structure, Antonio, Mike, and Kevin were still running around like… well, little boys, as they played tag. Kevin was currently it and Mike and Antonio were taunting him as they avoided him. Jayden was sitting up on the monkey bars, laughing at his friends.

Ji walked over and stood by the monkey bars. He touched Jayden's leg, "I love seeing you this happy."

"I'm having a lot of fun," Jayden smiled down at Ji, "Thank you for letting my friends stay over."

"Is this something you want to do more often?" Ji asked. "Instead of training all the time, do you want to come to the park and have fun with your friends and Emily?"

Jayden nodded excitedly, "Can we? Can we please?"

"I will make sure you get more time to be just a regular boy," Ji reached up and took Jayden down from the monkey bars. He held him in his arms, "You deserve nothing but the best. It makes me happy to see you smiling and having fun."

"You're a good uncle," Jayden wrapped his arms around Ji's neck, "I don't miss my daddy as much when you're around."

Ji hugged Jayden a little tighter as those words warmed his heart. Though no one would ever replace Jayden's father, it meant a lot to Ji to know he was helping Jayden with the loss, without making Jayden feel like he was taking his father's place. Though he knew he hadn't been the best parent, he had tried his hardest to ensure Jayden would be safe, strong and healthy. To know the boy was also happy was really the only thing Ji ever wanted. There was no point raising the best Samurai if he wasn't a happy Samurai. There was no reason to keep Jayden alive if he wasn't happy with his life.

"I love you, Jayden. More than anything."

"I love you too, Ji. Now can we get ice-cream?"

Ji nodded and set Jayden on the ground, "You're a lucky little boy today. The park and ice-cream? You're going to make other kids jealous."

"They should be jealous," Jayden smiled as he took Ji's hand, "My life is awesome!"

"Did someone say ice-cream?" like a rocket, Mike, Antonio, and Kevin were all by Ji's side, tugging at his kimono, "We would like ice-cream too, please."

"We will all get ice-cream."

"Actually, can I have a fruit salad?" Kevin asked, "Ice-cream is no good for my Samurai diet."

"Ice-cream is no good?" Serena gasped as she walked over. "Oh, Kevin, sweetheart… what's wrong with you?"

"He's health conscious," Mia came over as well and let go of Emily's hands to hug Kevin, "He'll be strong and healthy, and he'll live a longer life than all of you ice-cream eating fatties."

"No!" Emily cried and then stuck out her stomach, "Cute!"

"Yes, Emy, your tummy is adorable," Serena lifted Emily high and blew into her stomach. She made a farting sound that tickled Emily and made all the boys laugh.

Ji chuckled as well and looked to Mia, "So, if you're defending Kevin this strongly, I guess there will be no ice-cream for you either?"

Mia shook her head, "Uh, I didn't say that. Of course I want ice-cream. I…" she trailed off as she lifted her head and saw people, mostly kids, running and screaming. She wrapped her arms protectively around Kevin and gestured for Serena and Ji to look over, "Baby-Nighlok's back."

Serena handed Emily over to Ji, "Keep them safe. Mia and I will handle this."

"You two be careful," Ji looked the girls in the eyes, "I can't afford seven children."

"Wena?" Emily cried when Ji turned away and carried her away from her sister. The boys were following right behind him, though they were looking over their shoulder as their aunts ran towards the danger.

"Ji, we need to help them," Jayden whispered as he was pulled behind a bush by Ji, "We're Samurai."

"And we beat those three ugly monsters," Antonio reminded him. "We'll handle it…"

"No. This is a job for the grownups. You will stay here where it's safe."

"Wena win?" Emily looked up at Ji worriedly. He hugged her close.

"Serena and Mia will win," he promised her and the boys. "They know they have to."


	8. The Defeat

Despite training together to strengthen their odds of kicking the Nighlok's ass quickly, Serena and Mia could not stop this Nighlok like they had planned. Every time they had been about to attack, he would shot at them, putting them at risk of turning into children.

It was also hard because the other Samurai were in the park watching. Serena and Mia had planned on fighting the Nighlok alone while the kids were at home with Ji, safe and sound. Now they needed to worry about where attacks and weapons were being thrown, where they were being deflected, and where explosions would go off. They couldn't risk hurt the kids.

The Nighlok, however, couldn't care any less where he hit, or who he hit. Eventually, his aim turned to the bush where the kids were hiding and he shot a blast their way. Serena and Mia jumped in the way, taking the full force of the blast. They hit the ground and rolled, powering down before they came to a stop.

The Nighlok approached the girls with a laugh and held out his bottle. When he squeezed it, the energy that came out of it would turn them into children. Counting the Rangers he had already hit, he knew these were the last two. One more blast for each of them, and the Samurai Rangers would be done.

"NO!" a loud scream cried just as he was about to shoot. Serena and Mia covered their head with their arms, trying to hide and shield themselves as much as possible when suddenly, from the bush, four little Rangers, red, blue, green, and gold, jumped out. The little red Ranger kicked the bottle out of the Nighlok's hand while the other three boys ran into the Nighlok, pushing him away from their aunts. The Nighlok was surprised to see he was being fought by children. The whole point of his powers was to turn humans back into children so they were weak and vulnerable.

"Boys, go back with Ji!" Serena screamed and pushed herself up to her feet. She morphed again, but could feel her energy leaving her. If the Nighlok didn't start drying up soon, she and Mia, and now the boys, would be done for.

"No! We're Samurai!" Jayden turned out and pulled out his Spin Sword. It was much too big for him, and he had a little trouble holding it, but when he spun around and slashed at the Nighlok, the girls could hardly tell he was only six years old.

Serena pulled Mia up. They weren't going to let the boys fight alone. Once Mia was morphed back into the pink Ranger, the girls went after the Nighlok, giving the boys the back-up they desperately needed. Though they were running circles around the Nighlok, they weren't strong enough to cause much damage.

From the bush, Ji held onto Emily as he watched the battle. It was rare he got to watch the Rangers in action and he found it so much harder to watch in person than to watch on a TV screen or from the map. This was real. There was no ignoring it.

Especially not when Jayden, his little boy, was barely strong enough to put up much of a fight. It was obvious he and the other boys had a lot of heart, and they were doing the best they could to help Mia and Serena out, but it wasn't going to be enough. Ji winced and turned away as the Nighlok knocked all six of the Rangers down and then pulled out what looked to be a rattle. The Nighlok tossed the rattle into the group of Samurai and then he started to run. The rattle hit the ground once, twice, and then boom. From his spot, Ji was blown right off the ground as he flew through the air. He still held Emily in his arms and when he realized his only way down was to crash into the hard ground, he covered her as much as he could and made sure his body took the impact. He landed with a hard thud on his back, which took his breath away from him for a moment. His ears rung loudly and for a moment, any sound he could hear was muffled. His vision blurred, but when it finally cleared up and he started to come back to his senses, he looked down into his arms.

"Emily, are you okay?"

She was already trying to pull away from him, having recovered a lot faster because he had protected her. Ji let her go and watched as she ran to the Rangers. They all lay on the ground unmoving. Their clothes were burned in places, which meant the blast had also burned their skin. Emily screamed as she fell to her knees next to her sister and tried to wake her up. Ji rushed over as well to get a closer look. Though all the Samurai – big and small – were harmed, it was easy to see the girls had taken most of the blast. Like he had done with Emily, they had covered the boys.

"Uncle Ji?" Kevin groaned painfully as he started to come around, like the other boys.

"Are you okay?" Ji asked, inspecting him quickly and then moving onto the next boy.

"I feel a little funny," Antonio answered.

Ji gave him a little nod, "I will have a look at all of you when we get home. Can you boys walk?"

"Yeah," Jayden said and got up to his feet. He was a little shaky, but he knew he would have to get home. He turned to Mia and Serena and looked to them sadly, "Ji, will they be okay?"

All the boys looked worried. Though they couldn't remember being grown and having a relationship with the girls, they did remember the past few days, where the girls had done everything for them, practically turning themselves into their mothers.

"I will do everything in my power to make sure they are okay," Ji promised. Then he looked at Mike, "Can you take Emily home while I carry the girls."

"I'll help," Kevin said. Ji started to lift Mia up, careful not to hurt her too much. With just him able to carry both girls home, he couldn't be too gentle. Unfortunately, he needed to do whatever he could to get them home. They weren't going to get the treatment they needed from the park. He put Mia over his shoulder with a little help from Kevin, and then he did the same with Serena. Kevin then led the way back home, constantly reminding Ji to be careful with his aunts.

Jayden trailed behind them, staring at his Samuraizer. There had to be a way to stop the Nighlok. He had to find a way to help his aunts and help his team. He was just a little boy, but he was also the red Ranger.

Behind Jayden, Emily was screaming loudly and stomping her feet. Ji had taken off with her sister and didn't look like he was going to come back, nor did it look like Serena was going to wake up and come for her. Mike and Antonio were trying to calm her down so she would go home with them.

"It's okay, Emily," Mike told her, "Uncle Ji's going to take care of them."

"No go! Wena!"

"Come with us," Antonio insisted and took her hand, "We'll go make sure Serena's okay."

"NO!" Emily shouted and bit Antonio's hand so he would let her go. Then she fell onto the ground and sat with her legs and arms crossed in protest. She wouldn't be moved. Antonio nursed his hand and muttered about her shark teeth.

Mike got down on his knees in front of Emily, "Are you scared?" when Emily nodded her head he pulled her in for a hug, "I'll protect you, okay. Until Serena wakes up you can trust me."

"Pawmiss?"

"Promise," Mike nodded and then lifted Emily up. She wrapped her legs around his waist and her arms around his neck as he carried her all the way back home.

Antonio walked behind them, chuckling to himself, "Mike and Emily sitting in a tree…"

"Shut up!"

"K-I-S-S… uh… well, you know what I'm trying to spell."

"I don't like her," Mike pouted. "She's scared so I'm helping her."

"Nahuh, you like her."

"Nahuh! Girls have cooties!"


	9. A New Plan

To make things easier, Ji had set up two mats in the common room for the girls to rest on. He had treated their burns and was letting their bodies do the rest of the work, certain they would wake up eventually. Then he took the boys to the kitchen and cleaned them off. They weren't hurt as badly as Mia and Serena were, but he couldn't let them go untreated. As he carefully bandaged his wounds, he looked into the common room.

Emily had pulled in her blanket and pillow from her bedroom and was setting up a bed for herself between Serena and Mia. She had already tried and failed to wake them both up and was now going to sit by their side until they did wake up. Once she had a bed made she walked to her stool and picked up her teddy bear. She tucked the bear in Mia's arms and then she snuggled into Serena's arms and wrapped her blanket around the two of them.

Ji looked down at his work and cut off the bandage. He taped it up and then gave Jayden a gentle pat to let him know he was done. Jayden looked up at Ji and sighed.

"We have to do something."

"This is not your problem, Jayden," Ji shook his head. "Go to bed. I'll be in there soon to tuck you in…"

"How can I go to bed when my team is hurt?" Jayden raised his voice and for a moment he sounded like the young man he had once been. "That Nighlok needs to be stopped, no matter what."

"Jayden, this is not a war you should be fighting in…"

"Yes, I should!" Jayden stomped his feet. "Daddy's gone! It's up to me to be the red Ranger!"

"You are too young!"

"We already saved Emily!"

"That was different…"

"No it's not," Kevin looked to Ji and shook his head. "We are Samurai. We may be little, but we can't let the Nighlok push us around."

"We're supposed to be the other Rangers, aren't we?" Mike asked. Ji frowned and shook his head. Mike pounded his fists into the table, "There's always been more than two Samurai. I don't know a lot about the Samurai, but I do know there's supposed to be a green Ranger."

"And a blue," Kevin nodded his head, "and yellow."

"And there's not supposed to be a white," Jayden added.

Antonio swung his feet back and forth as he sat on his chair, "Gold would be a cool colour, though."

Ji took a deep breath and the sat at the table, inviting the boys to sit with him. They all looked desperate for answers and suddenly Ji wasn't sure why he was hiding the truth from them, especially now.

"You are all sixteen years younger than you are supposed to be," he explained to the boys. "The last time you went into battle, it was against the Nighlok you just saw. He hit you all with his power and turned you into children. Mia and Serena are not your aunts. They are your friends, your teammates."

"What's six plus sixteen?" Antonio asked, finding the math too hard to do on his fingers.

"Twenty-two."

"I'm twenty-two?" Antonio gasped and looked down at his little body, "I'm _old?_"

"Hardly," Ji rolled his eyes. "Twenty-two is not old."

"It's not?" Kevin asked and then tilted his head to the side, "Then how old are you?"

"That doesn't matter."

"He must be seventy. Look at the wrinkles on his face and…"

"I am not old," Ji frowned.

"Are you sure?" Antonio asked. "Have you looked in the mirror…?"

"Boys, can we focus?" Ji massaged his temples and tried to keep his cool. He knew what kids were like. He could remember being a child and looking to grownups the same way. When he was little, he remembered thinking that his life would be over once he hit twenty. But now wasn't the time to teach the boys about life. They needed to know what had happened to them. "You are the current team of Samurai."

"And that Nighlok did something to us, right?" Jayden asked. "And because he did, and because we're just kids, you think we're not good enough to be Samurai."

"No, Jayden. Absolutely not."

"Then, c'mon, guys," Jayden slipped out of his chair and led the boys to the dojo, "We have to train."

"Train? But it's almost bedtime," Mike whined, "Can't we train tomorrow?"

"Mike, you're twenty-two now…"

Mike stuck out his tongue, "No! I'm younger than you are! I'm… Uncle Ji, how old am I really?"

"Twenty."

"I'm twenty!"

"You're old enough to help," Kevin dragged Mike to the dojo, "If what Uncle Ji is saying is true, then we owe Aunt Mia and Aunt Serena a lot of help. Taking care of us and that Nighlok is too much work for them."

All four boys headed into the dojo and picked up their wooden swords. They were a little clumsy at first, but they stayed up all night practicing. They knew it was important.

-Samurai-

A painfully bright light shone through her eyelids, blinding her even though her eyes were closed. Mia groaned and shifted in her bed, only to feel what she thought was sandpaper grinding against her skin. It felt exactly like it had when she had been sunburned badly. For a moment, she thought she was still sunburned.

Then it all came back to her: her friends as children, fighting Serrator, bonding with the kids, and then coming face to face with the Nighlok and losing. She remembered the rattle that exploded, and she remembered throwing herself on top of Jayden and Kevin, but mostly Kevin.

She raised her hand to block the light from the window and sat up. She was in the common room, sleeping on a mat with a teddy bear by her side. Squinting and blinking until her eyes adjusted, she lifted the bear and smiled. It was Emily's bear that she had gotten at the toy store. Mia looked around the room and saw Emily and Serena cuddling on another mat. Serena's eyes were already open and she was gently stroking her sister's hair and apologizing. Emily was still sleeping soundly.

"How are you?" Serena whispered when she saw Mia was awake. Mia pulled herself from the bed and walked over to the sisters. She tucked the bear under Emily's arm and stroked her cheek while looking to Serena.

"Same as you."

"You feel like a loser too?"

"Should I?"

"Emily defeated that hunger Nighlok by herself. Antonio defeated that love Nighlok by himself. Just day ago Serrator kidnapped Emily and she managed to keep herself safe until we showed up, and then the boys kicked his ass. But one Nighlok comes back for the two of us, and we're put on bed rest. The kids can outwit Serrator, but we can't stop a stupid Nighlok."

"We'll get him next time," Mia promised and leaned over to give Serena a hug. "This isn't over yet. We'll stop him."

"Stop who?"

Mia and Serena looked to the doorway leading to the kitchen and saw the boys were carrying two trays. Mike set one tray down beside Serena, and Kevin brought another to Mia. On the trays was a plate of breakfast. Two eggs and strips of bacon to make a smiley face.

Antonio set two glasses down and smiled, "The faces were my idea. We thought you could use some cheering up."

"We even cooked it ourselves," Jayden announced as he grabbed a pillow and sat down on it on the floor so he could be with the girls. "Ji supervised."

"You kids cooked?" Serena asked and tried to sit up without waking up Emily.

"We know we're not kids," Kevin said. He looked to Mia, "Uncle Ji…. Mentor Ji told us what happened. What that Nighlok did to us. We know we have to help you."

"Boys," Mia shook her head and pulled Kevin into her arms, "You don't have to help. This isn't a war for kids."

"We're not kids," Kevin insisted and looked Mia right in the eyes, "We just… we think we are. But if we stop that Nighlok, we'll be back to normal. He's too tough for the two of you, so we all need to help."

"We were up all night training," Antonio was bouncing slightly from excitement. He knew how important his Samurai duties were, but he couldn't contain himself. This was a dream come true for him. Since he was… well, this age, he had always wanted to be a Samurai. He had always wanted to fight alongside Jayden.

"Yum yum?" Emily's little voice yawned as she started to stretch in Serena's arms. She rubbed her eyes and slowly opened them.

Mia chuckled, "What's yum yum?"

"Bacon," Serena answered with a smile and ripped off a little piece of her bacon, "Want some of mine, Emy?"

Emily was suddenly wide awake and snatched the small piece from Serena's hand. As she chomped on it happily, Mike walked over to her and held his hand out. She hadn't been up training with all of them. Unfortunately, in spite of the fact that she was actually eighteen, there was no way she could fight the Nighlok in her little body. The boys, at least, had an understanding of what they were getting themselves into. Asking a two year old to put her life on the line was cruel, no matter the circumstances.

"Serena and Mia need to rest," Mike took Emily's hand and walked her to the kitchen, "It's how everything's going to be okay again. While they do that, you can colour in here."

"Bye, bye booboos," Emily skipped happily alongside Mike. When she was out of the room, Serena and Mia finished their plates and then looked to the boys.

"We're going to be training. If you guys have been up all night you should be the ones resting."

"We're six," Kevin chuckled, "Just give us some sugar and we can run forever."

"Sugar," Serena grabbed Mia's arm. She looked to the pink Ranger with wide eyes and an expression of realization, "Coffee."

"Coffee?"

"If kids can run circles around their parents after eating a bit of sugar, imagine what Samurai children can do after drinking coffee."

Mia smirked, "The Nighlok won't know what hit him."

"While he's busy just trying to keep track of where the kids are, we go in for the kill. It's like our plan to take out Serrator, only energized."

"The last thing kids need is energy," Mia grumbled and then looked to Serena with a smile, "but we're going to have to choreograph it. With four kids running around like maniacs, we might hit them by mistake. If we know where they are, and where they'll be, we can get the Nighlok without the kids ever having to get hurt."

"Boys, you're training with us."

"Does that mean you're letting us fight with you?" Antonio smiled.

"As long as you do exactly what you're told," Mia said. "No ifs, ands, or buts."

The boys all started giggling, "You said butts."


	10. Act Your Age

Ji was brewing some coffee after being told the plan Serena and Mia had come up with. Normally he wasn't one to give coffee to children – he didn't even really drink it himself – but this plan did sound good enough to work. He knew that on a regular day, the _grownup_ Samurai could run circles around him and confuse him. For the first time, he pitied the Nighlok that was going to come face to face with four caffeine and sugar pumped children.

As Ji waited for the coffee to finish, he looked to the table and smiled as he watched Emily colour two different pictures. Though this Nighlok needed to be defeated, Ji was honestly sad to see him go. Not only had the Nighlok given Jayden the chance to have a proper childhood, but he had given Ji the chance to be a better father, and Ji had gotten to see what the rest of the team was like as children, and it made him fall in love even more with his Samurai. Though knowing what was in store for their future, it was a good and a bad thing.

The coffee would be a couple minutes still, and the boys weren't going to need it until the Nighlok came back anyways, so Ji took a seat at the table and gently picked up the picture Emily wasn't colouring on.

"This is very pretty," he honestly had no idea what it was.

Emily gave him a bright and happy smile, "Fow booboos."

"Get well cards?" Ji looked again and saw that one picture was mostly coloured in pink while the other had a lot more yellow. "That's very nice of you, Emily. Serena and Mia will appreciate that."

Ji put the picture down and then saw Emily holding out a crayon. He shook his head. He didn't feel like colouring. Emily pushed her hand out again, insisting.

"Wowds. Me no."

Ji wasn't too sure what she wanted. Most of the time it was hard to understand her. After almost a week, Mia was only just starting to grasp Emily's little language, and she spent a lot of time with the little girl. Ji was still very much confused. Jayden had learned to speak at an early age, and hadn't struggled with words very much at all. But Ji took the crayon, figuring it would do no harm.

"Love," Emily pointed to the paper. "Memy love Wena!"

"Memy love…? Emy loves Serena?"

Emily looked at him like he was stupid. She had just said that.

"Liwsen!" she tapped the paper again, "Wowds."

Ji nodded and he was about to write the words for Emily when he remembered something. Unsure of how long the Rangers would be stuck as children, Serena had decided on getting a head start helping Emily with her dyslexia. If the plan worked, like it was supposed to, it wouldn't be an issue anymore, but Ji didn't think he could pass up the opportunity to help. It felt like something he had to do, even if it would seem pointless.

"How about you do it. I will help," Ji put the crayon in Emily's hand and then stood over her. With his hand, he guided hers over the paper, "Emy," he spoke as he and Emily wrote, "loves Serena!"

"Me do!" Emily squealed and clapped her hands together excitedly, "Me do!"

Now Ji understood why he couldn't pass up the opportunity. He gave her a big smile and lifted her out of her seat, "You're a very smart girl, Emily. Never forget that."

"Me do Yiya!" Emily reached down for the table and wanted to try again. When Ji reached out to help her she pushed his hand away, "'Lone!"

Ji nodded and watched over as she tried to do as he had done. She struggled and each letter was… sloppy… at best, but he could see she was working hard and she was trying her best.

"No know Yiya."

Assuming she meant Mia, he spelt it out for her and helped her with her hand because it was a new word. When she was done, she picked up the picture and smiled brightly.

"Wike?"

"Amazing, Emily."

"Dance," Emily climbed down from the chair and started to do a little dance, "Lelebate!"

"Celebrate?"

Emily nodded her head and showed Ji the celebration dance she remembered Serena doing for her anytime she did something by herself. Ji danced around the kitchen with Emily and was having so much fun he didn't even hear the Gap Sensor go off until someone turned it off and cleared her throat. Ji turned around and blushed. Serena, Mia, and the boys were watching him and holding back their laughs.

"Ji's got moves," Serena smirked. "Seems like everyone's going to have a bit of blackmail after we defeat the Nighlok."

"Wena!" Emily grabbed the pictures from the table and jumped into Serena's arms. She held out the yellow picture, "Bye, bye, booboos."

"Aw, Emy, you made me a get well picture?" Serena gave her sister a hug, "Thank you, sweetie. I love it."

"Yiya!" Emily cried as she held out the pink picture for Mia.

"Is that a princess?"

"Yiya pity," Emily smiled and then buried her face in her sister's chest nervously.

"Pretty, right?" Mia whispered to Serena. "I'm not being pitied by a two year old, am I?"

"Of course you are," Serena teased. Then she felt a tug on her shorts.

"Uh, there's a Nighlok destroying the city," Antonio said. "I know she's cute, but we have more important things to do."

Serena nodded her head, "We've got to go. Stay with Ji, Emy."

Ji gave the boys their coffee and the Rangers rushed out as fast as they could, knowing they had wasted enough time admiring Emily's art. When they were gone, Ji looked down at Emily.

"What the heck, shall we dance while we have the house to ourselves?"

"Dance!" Emily cried and started bouncing around.

-Samurai-

The coffee kicked in halfway to the battle site, so by the time the Samurai made it to the Nighlok, the boys were already pumped with caffeine and sugar. In their Ranger suits, they looked like nothing more than coloured blurs as they raced to the Nighlok and pulled out their swords.

"Whoa, little Rangers!" the Nighlok cried and tried to swing at them with what looked like a teddy bear, but it wasn't soft and cuddly. When it hit, it felt like a ton of bricks smacking the Samurai and it hurt like hell.

However, the boys were so fast the Nighlok couldn't get them. He swung frantically and spun around in a circle. He was just trying to keep up with them, but they were so small, so fast, and so… infuriating, there was nothing he could do to stop them.

"Fire one!" Mia cried and summoned her sky fan as she and Serena arrived a little after the boys, "Sky Fan!"

Whipping her fan around, she struck the Nighlok repeatedly. The boys scattered in time to avoid being hit and the Nighlok was knocked off his feet and onto his butt. Before he could even think about getting up, the boys had him surrounded again and were swiping at him with their swords. He curled up into the fetal position, trying to protect himself as much as he could.

"Stop it, you little demons! Leave me alone! Ah, I hate children!"

"Fire two!" Serena shouted and pulled out a white coloured Earth Slicer. She launched it at the Nighlok and it tore through the flesh on his back before it returned to her.

"Boys, there are disks in your belt buckles. Use them to summon your own weapons and kick his ass!"

"You said a bad word!" Antonio called out while Mike, Jayden, and Kevin got their personal weapons out. Antonio just looked at his Barracuda Blade and sighed, "Aw man. Apparently I should have made myself something really cool."

Kevin took a few steps back and shot the Nighlok with arrows from his Hydro Bow. He fired them one right after the other, with barely anytime between arrows. The Nighlok stumbled back as he was struck in the chest by each one. Then he started to trip over his own feet, but before he could fall back, he felt something slam right into him and it sent him flying forward. Jayden had used his Fire Smasher (which he struggled to lift) to hit the Nighlok like he was playing ball. The Nighlok flew through the air and Mike ran to catch up with him. He wanted to get at least one strike with his Forest Spear before the Nighlok was defeated.

"A little to the left!" Antonio shouted to Mike as he watched the Nighlok fall from the sky. Mike did as he was told and saw Antonio gesturing for him to point his spear to the sky. He wasn't sure why but decided he would try it. The minute the spear was up in the air, the Nighlok came down, impaling himself on the green Ranger's weapon. Behind his visor, Mike had a look of disgust on his face for a moment, and then a look of amazement.

"That was awesome!"

"Mike was not a normal child," Mia muttered to Serena and shook her head sadly.

"He's not a normal person," Serena stated.

Kevin, Jayden, and Antonio raced over to Mike, who was struggling to pull his forest spear out of the Nighlok's dead body.

"A little help, guys!" Mike cried and the boys grabbed him around the waist and started to pull. On their biggest attempt, they suddenly felt something happen. They pulled the forest spear out with ease and landed in a pile on their butts. They groaned in discomfort as they pushed each other away and got up. Serena and Mia ran over to them. The boys were up on their feet and saw the girls running over. Instantly they noticed they were as tall as the girls were. They weren't staring at their legs or stomachs.

"It worked!" Mia jumped into Kevin's arms and he caught her and hugged her tight. The hug only lasted a few moments, though, as the Nighlok returned for his second life.

Jayden watched the Nighlok grow and sighed, "They grow so fast…"

"So do we," Antonio smirked, "Clawzord!"

-Samurai-

The Rangers' victory finally brought the city back to normal, though as the Rangers returned to solid ground from the cockpits, they were sure they heard a few disappointed groans from the people in the city. It was bittersweet that the Nighlok needed to be defeated. So many kids meant there were so many cute faces to run into every day.

Still a little buzzed from their coffee high, Mike and Antonio especially were bouncing excitedly on the way home and were teasing Kevin over how stuck up he was even as a boy. Serena and Mia watched and laughed, knowing they had a lot they could say about the boys as children.

But they were suddenly stopped when Jayden grabbed their arms, telling them he wanted to talk with them alone for a minute. Jayden told the boys to go ahead without him and then he walked slowly with the girls.

"Thanks for… you know… taking care of us."

"You would have done the same for us," Mia said and then pinched Jayden's cheek, "Besides; you were too cute to kick to the curb."

"I'm serious," Jayden looked to both Mia and Serena, "I mean, Mike, Kevin, and Antonio might appreciate it… but it means a lot more to me. The last time I had a mom was… well, when your moms were at the Shiba House. It was nice having a regular childhood for once, with Ji acting like a normal dad and brothers and a sister, and a mom. Two moms, even."

Mia wrapped her arm around Jayden warmly, "You're not six anymore, but you know if you ever need to talk, you do have a family."

"A family of oddballs, but what family isn't," Serena chuckled. "And trust me, this family is _weird!_"

"Seriously, guys. This was probably one of the best Nighlok ever. Thanks for really stepping up."

He gave both girls a quick kiss on the cheek and then ran over to the boys. Though he was back to his normal age now, he still felt very much like a kid and wanted to join the others teasing Kevin.

When the Samurai got back to the house, Jayden hurried in to find Ji. He remembered everything about being a kid and knew Ji had used that time to give Jayden everything he had missed out on the first time around. He also remembered the talk he had with Ji the day before at the park, where he told Ji he loved him and that Ji made him miss his dad less – in a good way. Jayden wanted him to know it was all very true, and that he appreciated everything Ji had done for him in in his second childhood and his first.

Emily greeted the Samurai outside and jumped into Mike's arms when she saw him. Serena stayed by the gate and watched for a minute while Mia and the boys teased Emily about almost everything from the way she talked to how cute she was.

Serena reached into her pocket and unfolded the picture Emily had made her before the battle. She looked to it a little sadly, but there was a smile on her face. She was going to miss her baby sister and the way she had been Emily's entire world – the way she was the only one who understood Emily, and the only one she ever called for when she was scared.

"I'll always be your baby sister."

Serena looked up from the picture and saw Emily had come over to her. Emily looked down at the picture and laughed, "I'll just be your baby sister who draws a little better. And who calls you Serena instead of Wena."

"That was cute."

"Yeah, when I was two. I don't think I can pull that off anymore. I would sound ridiculous."

"Speaking of ridiculous, when you were two, you mention something about Serrator being a _goggie _and a_ hosey._"

Emily nodded her head, "That's a really funny story."

"Any funnier than your fiancé pantsing every mannequin in the store?" Serena wrapped her arm around Emily and looked to Mike, after speaking loud enough so he could hear her. "Mike, you were one perverted child."

"Not perverted. Curious. I was curious! That's normal for kids. Unlike Kevin, who was apparently born with a stick up his ass."

"Hey, Kevin was adorable," Mia smiled and gave him a kiss.

Kevin stuck out his tongue at Mike, "Ha, hear that. I was the adorable one."

"Uh, Kevin," Mia leaned into him and cuddled him, "I said adorable. You were more adorable than Mike but…"

"But?" Kevin frowned and looked down at Mia, "I know it's a little twisted, Mia, but who can be a cuter kid than your fiancé?"

"You know how badly I want a daughter. Besides, two is still adorably cute. By six you put a different adjective in front of the word cute."

"Annoyingly," Serena started counting on her fingers, "irritatingly, frustratingly…"

"Okay, okay, I get it," Kevin held up his hands, "You can stop."

"Infuriatingly…"

"Serena…"

"God, you kids were a pain in the ass," Serena let go of Emily and walked to the house, "Fortunately that's all over with. I hate kids."

"You remember you're actually a mother, right?" Mia said with a small laugh. "You know, your son Terran."

"Dammit! It never ends!"

Emily, Mike, Antonio and Kevin all gasped and pointed an accusing finger at Serena, "You said a bad word!"


End file.
